Authorizing and Oversight Overview
Category: Authorizing and Oversight
In 1991, Minnesota passed the first law allowing for the creation of charter schools. As of 2011, 40 states and the District of Columbia have laws that allow for the operation of charter schools. Charter laws in the 40 states allow different mixes of agencies to grant charters including local school districts, universities, state boards of education and in some states, specifically designated agencies whose only function is to grant charters. The state laws also differ in the degree of autonomy afforded to charter schools. California’s charter law, passed in 1992 provides that school districts, county offices of education, and the state Board of Education are allowed to grant charters. The vast majority of California’s charter schools have been granted by local districts.
The California Charter law sets out 16 elements that a school must address in order to be approved including elements related to the proposed school’s educational program, governance and operations, and fiscal viability. The authorizer board has the responsibility for making the final decision on the approval or denial of a school’s charter. Typically, the charter document is reviewed by authorizer staff members who make a recommendation to the board. The charter law requires that the board of the authorizer hold a public hearing within 30 days of the date the petition is officially submitted and must vote on a granting/denial decision within 60 days of when the petition is submitted (unless both parties agree to an additional 30 day extension).
The charter law outlines the reasons that an authorizer can deny a charter petition. It states that the authorizer can deny a petition for one or more of the following reasons:
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If the charter is denied, the charter law provides for an appeal process. If the charter was initially submitted to a school district, the appeal first goes to the county office of education, and if denied at that level, to the State Board of Education. As an alternative to the appeals process, in some cases, the petitioner revises the petition to respond to the concerns of the authorizing board and staff and resubmits the petition to the district board.
Once the school’s charter has been approved the charter law calls for the authorizer to provide oversight of the school. The law details four specific areas of oversight the authorizer is responsible for: identifying a staff member who is responsible for charter schools; making an annual visit to the charter school; ensuring that the charter school meets applicable reporting requirements; and monitoring the school’s fiscal condition. Although the charter law does not set out specific requirements for the annual visit, in practice, many districts engage in a robust oversight process during the visit including, for example, monitoring of the school’s educational program and academic performance, monitoring of health and safety requirements, facility review, governance review, and reviews of the school’s operations. The law permits charter-granting agencies to charge for the actual cost of “supervisorial oversight” not to exceed one percent of the charter school’s general purpose and categorical block grant funding.
The charter school is responsible for responding promptly to all reasonable inquiries for its financial or other records from the authorizer, the relevant county office of education, as well as the California Department of Education. In addition to the school’s mandated responsibilities, CSDC recommends that charter schools establish and maintain a relationship with its authorizing district staff. Keeping the district staff informed of potential problems, changes in the school’s population, and other issues that might be relevant to supporting the district’s understanding of the school.
For Additional Information
CSDC provides consulting support for schools during the process of charter petition authorizing (see section on School Planning and Startup). In addition, CSDC staff members have a great deal of experience in responding to requests from school districts regarding authorizing and oversight and CSDC provides its members advice and support on building and maintaining relationships between charter schools and their authorizers. CSDC also frequently conducts the required annual review of charter schools as consultants to school districts and county offices of education.
Charter Schools Development Center
2010 Charter Schools Development Centerr
